The Nature of Art
by SinnamonandSpice
Summary: Riley had a plan to get over her ex-boyfriend Charlie, all she had to do was hook up with a guy and NOT get attached, and all Maya had to do was teach Riley how. Easy, right? Wrong. Riley's dad did always tell them not to play with nature. College AU focused on Riarkle and Lucaya with background Zayadora.
1. The Perfect Plan- Chapter 1

**IMPORTANT A/N PLEASE READ:** This is a story about Riarkle, Lucaya, and Zayadora, it is a college AU. I am always open to suggestions about what you want to see in the story. This first chapter is just setting everything up. Next chapter more things will start happening. Seeing as this story is about more than one couple I'm thinking of switching off couples every other chapter. So, even chapters would be Lucaya centric and odd chapters would be Riarkle centric or something like that. That way if you aren't a huge fan of one of the couples you don't have to read every chapter and won't miss any big plot points. Zayadora will be mostly background/catalyst characters and will have a lot of fluff. That said, there WILL be some Lucaya in Riarkle chapters and some Riarkle in Lucaya chapters, it just won't be the main focus. If I decide to write the story that way I'll be updating twice a week, maybe three if I get bored. Let me know if you like that idea in the comment section.

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"I need you to teach me how to flirt." Riley plopped down onto Maya's tiny bed in her all too small dorm room which Riley hadn't usually minded. The single rooms were one of the main reasons Riley and Maya picked Alumni Hall for housing. NYU had a lot of students so it was nice to have a space that was all their own, even if it was small.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna do that." Maya didn't even glance up from her laptop before responding, she just kept typing away at whatever boring art history paper she had due this week.

"Why not?" Riley folded her arms across her chest and made a pouty face, Maya always cracked when Riley started acting goofy. "Maya?" When Maya still didn't answer her, Riley slammed Maya's laptop shut in an attempt to get her attention. "Why won't you teach me how to flirt?"

Maya rolled her eyes at Riley "Because I know where this is going, Riley. You want me to teach you how to flirt so you can hook up with some random guy to try and get over Charlie but it's not gonna work and then you'll say it was my fault because I'm the one who taught you how to flirt in the first place." When Riley's jaw practically hit the floor Maya knew her analysis of the situation was right. "Besides, you're not a casual hookup kind of girl. You'll get attached and want a relationship."

"Am I really that predictable?" Maya slowly nodded her head and watched Riley as her face went from curiosity to sadness. "See? This is why I need to do this. We're juniors in college and I have no stories to tell!"

"I just don't want you to get hurt again, Riles." Riley had been the only consistent person in Maya's life. Things got better when Maya's mom married Shawn, but he still traveled a lot and Maya's mom worked long shifts to help support the three of them. Looking at Riley now she could see how things really hadn't changed that much, it was Riley and Maya forever, from the day Maya crawled through Riley's bedroom window to now, and for the rest of their lives.

Riley took Maya's hand and looked her in the eyes "My whole life you've been protecting me, Maya. But I'm not 7 years old anymore, if I'm going to grow I need to be able to make mistakes, and you need to let me."

Maya let out a sigh and laughed as she said "Okay." Maya didn't think she'd ever seen Riley smile so wide before, and that was saying a lot. "But on one condition, I get to pick the guy." Riley nodded and pulled Maya into a big bear hug and that was when Smackle, their other roommate walked in.

"Hugging is most typically used as a method of celebration. To what are we celebrating?" Yeah, she's a bit weird. Like, IQ higher then Einstein's weird.

"Riley's decided she wants to hook up with some random guy in order to get over he who shall not be named."

"Ah, I see. My research suggests that randomized sexual intercourse is a quintessential part of any college experience. May I join you in this endeavor?"

Maya shook her head in disbelief while Riley just smiled. "Sure you can Smackle, we're leaving at 8." When Riley and Smackle both left Maya's room to get ready for their big night of adventure Maya plopped down on her bed and started laughing to herself- how had this become her life?

4 hours later and Maya, Smackle, and Riley were making their way to Reservoir Bar, sure McSorley's was closer but they recently got a new bouncer who did not buy that Maya 27 year old woman named Annika Stinson. Besides, Reservoir had $4 tacos and in Maya's world tacos trumped just about everything else.

Reservoir wasn't particularly big so they were lucky when they were able to get Maya's favorite table. The bar is essentially one long room so Maya preferred the table at the back, farthest from the door, that way she could watch everything that was going on.

"Okay, we're here. What do we do now?" Maya could practically feel Riley's anxiety, she never was very good at talking to boys.

"Now we wait, and when you see a guy you think is cute you go over and you talk to him." Maya's eyes were panning the room but stopped cold when she noticed two boys who looked to be about their age arguing about something near the front of the bar.

"How did Smackle figure this out before I did?" Riley whined, pulling Maya's gaze away from the boys. Maya looked to the edge of the bar where Smackle seemed to be in deep conversation

Riley gasped and slapped Maya on the arm. "Ow."

"Him! I want him! I want to talk to him!" Riley was bouncing up and down with excitement and when Maya followed her gaze she noticed it was directed at the the two boys from earlier- more specifically the tan one with dreamy eyes, he was gorgeous and totally wrong for the job.

"No." Riley was about to protest but Maya cut her off before she could. "He is clearly more experienced with the whole no strings attached one time hookup sort of deal."

"Oh, come on, how could you possibly know that just from looking at him? Isn't that a little harsh, Maya? Remember all of my father's lessons about how appearances are deceiving?" Riley was clearly trying to change Maya's mind about this- too bad it wasn't working.

"No." Maya pointed her finger towards the other boy- the skinnier of the two, not necessarily less attractive, just less of a break-your-heart-and enjoy-it-type. "Him, however…" Maya raised her eyebrows in a suggestive manner causing Riley to chuckle.

"I took the liberty of doing some research on those boys that you were ogling." Maya jumped at the sound of her roommates voice, Smackle had a bad habit of sneaking up on people.

"We weren't ogling." Riley attempted to brush off the accusation, she turned and whispered to Maya. "What is ogling?"

Maya shook her head and turned her attention back to Smackle "Alright Smacklestein, what did you learn?"

"Farkle Minkus and Lucas Friar are the roommates of Isaiah Babineaux, all three boys are juniors at NYU with varying majors. Farkle Minkus was born and raised in New York City while Lucas Friar and Isaiah Babineaux were raised in Texas and relocated here to attend college."

Maya hadn't realized she was smiling until Smackle looked at her in confusion. "What?"

"Smackle, do you realize what you just did?" Maya asked without any intention of letting Smackle respond "You just played wing woman for Riles and I. I'm so proud."

"Yeah, yeah, are we going to engage in social conversation or not?" Maya and Riley laughed at Smackle, truly proud of how far she'd come. When they first met her she had no idea how to behave in a social situation and when Riley and Maya suggested she do some research she came home the next day from the mall looking like Vogue had thrown up.

"Yes, yes we are." Maya slammed her hand against the table for dramatic effect, and turned to face Riley. "Alright, kid. Are you ready to change your life?"

Riley nodded assuredly "I can do this." And with that Riley stomped off, determined to flirt with Farkle Minkus.


	2. Mating Rituals- Chapter 2

**A/N:** You guys seemed to like the idea of even chapters being Lucaya and odd chapters being Riarkle so I'm gonna play with that and see how it works. With my schedule right now I'll be updating every Monday and Wednesday and sometimes a bonus chapter on the weekends, all of that information will be updated on my profile so if you want to know, just go there. Also, leave me requests about other stories you want me to write in the comments. This chapter is Lucaya with a bit of Zayadora. Next chapter we'll find out what Riarkle was up to.

 **Chapters after this will be longer. I had the first two pre-written so they're shorter. I am sitting down to write the third chapter on Friday so it may be up as a bonus chapter over the weekend, look out for it. As always, I'd love to hear your feedback and thank you for reading!**

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Mating Rituals

"I can't do this." Riley had taken maybe twenty steps before turning around and heading back to her friends.

"Oh, sure you can, Riles. It's easy. Just walk up to him and say 'Hi, I'm Riley. You're really cute, we should hang out some time.'"

Riley shook her head vehemently. "Too forward."

"Hi, I'm Riley."

"Like we're on a first name basis?" Riley's eyes went wide as she thought of being rejected, that's the last thing she needed right now.

"Hi." Maya suggested.

"Hi." Riley confirmed, they found a winner.

"Hi back." Both girls jumped at the sound, they had been so consumed in their own little world that they hadn't even noticed the boy join them at their table. Not only was he at their table uninvited but he was also eating Maya's chili cheese fries, she shot him a death glare.

"Oh, allow me to introduce myself. I'm Zay, Zay Babineaux. Also known as your ticket to Larkle town."

"Larkle?" All three girls asked in unison.

"Yeah, ya know. Lucas. Farkle. Put em' together. Larkle."

Maya shook off the thought. "Listen, Babineaux. We're not interested in Larkle or whatever you call it. We're only interested in the Farkle part of that equation."

"Really? Well, why? What do you want with Farkle?" He said it in a way that made Maya think that Zay was extremely protective of his friends, Maya found that endearing.

"I'm gonna hook up with him!" Riley proclaimed and Maya swears half the bar turned to look at her. Maya would like to have blamed it on the alcohol but Riley had only had a few sips of her beer and even she wasn't that much of a lightweight.

Zay's mouth dropped open in confusion and Maya could tell he was about to say something to ruin everything so Maya cut him off before he could. "Riles, could you go get me a beer?"

"Why? You have one right there."

"This one isn't cold and my throats kind of hurting. Please?" Maya did her puppy dog eyes at Riley, that's always worked on her.

"Okay." Riley smiled and headed off towards the bar.

"You know, if you wanted her to hook up with someone you should have picked literally anyone else here."

"I know." Maya confirmed.

"Then why'd you pick him? Farkle's one of my best friends and he's not exactly the casual hook up kind of guy." He wasn't getting it.

"Because as much as Riley would like to believe it, she's not a casual hook up kind of girl." Maya watched as Zay reacted to her words, it was important that he knew how sensitive Riley was, Maya couldn't let her get hurt. Not again.

"Wait, how'd you know I was the one who picked Farkle?"

Zay gestured toward Smackle who'd been remarkably quiet this whole conversation. Maya reminded herself to ask Smackle about that later. That moment is when Riley reappeared from the bar. "Okay. I think I'm ready to do this."

"Go get em' kid." Maya took a swig of her beer and motioned towards the boys.

"Fine. I will." Riley turned away from the group and for a second Maya actually believed she was going to do it. "You have to come with me." Riley spun around on Maya so fast she could have sworn she felt a breeze. "What if I say the wrong thing or embarrass myself or trip over nothing?"

"Honey, you're Riley Matthews. All of those things are going to happen. It's who ya are." Maya grabbed Riley by the chin and shook it as she was talking to her. It reminded Maya of the time she got stuck babysitting Ava Morgenstern. By herself.

"Maya." Riley whined.

"Fine." Zay slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "I'll take you over there myself." He grabbed Riley by the arm and started pulling her through the crowd. Maya was impressed, she knew she was going to like that kid.

Maya watched from the corner of her eye as Zay introduced Riley to Farkle, seeing Riley so happy Maya couldn't help but smile to herself. Zay's got this, Maya thought. So she turned her attention to the petite brunette sitting beside her. "Are you okay? You've been quiet Smarklestein. I haven't heard anything to make me fall asleep in at least two hours, and I like my naps."

"Butterflies." Smackle simply stated, as if it was the solution to world hunger.

"What?" Maya rarely knew what Smackle was talking about, but this was a whole new kind of weird.

"I believe that when Isaiah is around I get a strange feeling in my stomach. I have often heard it being referred to as butterflies." When Smackle said it she seemed almost afraid. It was refreshing to see Smackle experience new emotions.

Maya's jaw dropped open "Smackle, you like Zay!" Maya teased.

"I am a scientist, Maya. I am simply attracted to the pheromones that his body produces."

"She's back! We've missed you!" Maya reached over and pulled Smackle into a big bear hug and started stroking her hair, taking her teasing up to full.

"Can I have one?" Maya turned at the sound of the unfamiliar voice, he's one of the boys from before. Not Farkle, what was the name of the other one? "Hi, I'm Lucas." Oh yeah, Lucas! Damn. He's even cuter up close.

"In what world do I give a random stranger a hug? I can barely tolerate hugging the people I actually like." Maya had a weird way of flirting and she knew it. She also knew that she was dynamite and anyone who got too close would be taken down with her. Shawn once told her that she's rude to people she meets to keep them away from her, to protect her walls. Sometimes it scares her how similar they are. When Shawn and Katy got married she thought maybe the world would give her a happy ending too but then she realized, she didn't want one.

"Ah, come on, I'm not a stranger. Ya see Zay said you've been over here talking about me." Lucas lowered his voice to a whisper "He also said you think I'm really cute."

Maya spit out her beer, a reaction she hadn't expected, of course. "Oh, he did, did he?"

"Yeah." Lucas folded his hands in front of him and stood up straighter.

"News flash, cowboy. Zay was just trying to get rid of you. You see he and I, we're trying to get my best friend," Maya pointed towards Riley and Zay. "Together with Farkle. You were simply a road block Zay needed to get rid of."

"Oh, I don't know about that. You sure you aren't just embarrassed that I caught you and maybe I won't feel the same way?" Lucas shifted his accent to have more of a country twang. Maya couldn't believe it, she was playing her game and the cowboy was playing right back.

"I'm sure." Maya stepped closer to him and stared him in the eyes, it was an intimidation tactic but Maya couldn't help but notice how gorgeous his eyes were, the color of green in contrast with his tan skin made him look like a Greek God. Maya wasn't sure how long they had been staring at each other, long enough for Zay to join them at their table unnoticed.

"Okay, what did I just walk into?" Zay's words broke Maya and Lucas out of their stare down and when Maya turned towards him her eyes immediately went to the 3 chicken tacos Zay was trying to simultaneously shove down his throat. Why is it that whenever Maya sees him he's eating?

"I believe it is their own personal version of a pre mating ritual, Isaiah." Maya scoffed and Lucas just smiled like Smackle was exactly right.

"You know what? I think you're right." He turned to Smackle and smiled. "And you can call me Zay." And then he winked at her. Maya couldn't believe it. Was Zay flirting with Smackle?

"I'll call you whatever you want me to." Smackle playfully punched his arm. Zay was flirting with Smackle, and Smackle was flirting back? Could this day get any weirder?

"So, Zay," Smackle raised her eyebrows flirtily when she said his name. "How's it going over there?"

"Well, when I left they were talking about Pluto. I got bored so I left." Zay shrugged and had somehow managed to find another taco without leaving their table.

"What do we do now? I am not familiar with this protocol." And just like that she was Smackle again.

"Now," Maya turned around so she could see Riley and Farkle. They were smiling and laughing about something. Good, Maya thought. She deserves this. "We wait."


End file.
